American Airlines Gets A Lashing On Facebook, Twitter After Losing Cat In JFK

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — After several years in New York City, Jack The Cat was bound for a new life in California with his brother Barry and owner Karen Pascoe.

That is, until his adventure took a wild turn which has sparked a social network lashing against American Airlines. The response has been so strong, the airline has gone as far as contacting Port Authority officials to help recover the missing feline.

On Thursday, Jack and Barry were kenneled and passed over to baggage handlers on Flight 177 from Kennedy Airport.

After clearing security, Pascoe — who was moving out west after 22 years in the Big Apple to start a new job — received a call from an airline employee who told her Jack was lost in the inbound baggage claim area.

Pascoe boarded a later flight with Barry after an hour-long search came up empty. She was assured that she’d get a phone call as soon as Jack was found.

Pascoe claims American Airlines finally contacted her Sunday, about 66 hours after she was told her pet was missing.

“I have to say it was really slow-moving to get a response from American and I get that there’s a backdrop of a hurricane,” Pascoe told 1010 WINS. “My cat’s lost, I’m in shock, it’s a total nightmare and they don’t call me for a couple of days.”

An employee told her they were actively searching for Jack but that “the last time this happened, it took about a month to find the cat.” Pascoe said the airline believes Jack is in the same area where he first went missing and that he’s still hiding there.

“All this extra security and you can’t be bothered to check your cameras to see EXACTLY what happened to Jack?!? Good to know. What else is going on behind the scenes that you don’t know or care about? But we’re supposed to feel safe and trust you with our lives, right?” wrote Jeremy Fritz.

“Where is Jack the cat????? WHY AREN’T YOUR PEOPLE LOOKING FOR HIM???????” Beverly King Cazort posted.

“I think AA should offer a REWARD to anyone rescuing Jack the cat. Money cannot go to employees or their relatives. AA started this mess and now you must end it. No time to cheap out here, guys. The damage this has caused is growing exponentially! Hopefully you will not delete this post… Can you be trusted? We’ll see…” Bonnie Wagner-Westbrook wrote.

Twitter users have also been voicing their concerns and critiques using #findjackthecat.

The airline has apologized for the incident and posted the following update in their search effort:

American has offered Jack’s owner, Karen, a flight to New York to personally visit the JFK operation and help assist with search efforts.

American has consulted with the Mayor’s Alliance Society for NYC to set up Have-A-Heart humane traps that are being placed throughout the area.

Food and water has been placed around the operation since Thursday.

If Jack feels comfortable returning to his kennel, we have placed food and water inside as well.

Employees, including the American Airlines Managing Director in JFK, have walked the entire operation in search.

All airside equipment, such as bag carts are being inspected.

The Port Authority of New York has been contacted with information and posters. They are fully cooperating in the search and distributing posters to other businesses on the airport property.

AA has placed posters in employee break-rooms, on the ramp, and throughout our JFK facility.

An alert is being placed on electronic bulletin boards visible to all employees from all departments.

“Vet Port” has been alerted and is supporting the effort. Vet Port is a veterinary service used by airlines and business local to the airport property where a lost pet would be turned in.

Access from the airside ramp area leading into the terminal building are being inspected and monitored

Pascoe said Barry misses his brother.

“Barry is in a new apartment and moving is very hard for cats,” she said. “He’s probably confused. He misses his pal, his brother. I just want him found and home safe.”

One Comment

A quarter of a million HUMANS are dying in Somalia alone and we’re talking about a cat??? All of you animal lovers are out of your minds. I’d kill every single cat in the world to save one little child.

So if a child goes missing, we should give up simply because so many others are suffering routinely? We can only do what we feel we need to do, and for this woman, this cat is more important to HER than the Somalis are to you.

you are a very angry person “Doctor” Dan, thats not healthy. I really dont understand what the connection is between the cat and dying Somalians is, but I love your passion, I wish we all had that passion for our starving, homeless and unemployeed Americans. We all need something to cling to, for some its their pet, try to be a little more understanding, anger and condemnation does not sovle anything

Unfortunately I agree with those who think it’s possible that an airport/airline employee stole the cat. He’s a very handsome and sweet-looking cat. Has the empty carrier turned up at all? Even if so, he still could have been removed from it. I agree, the surveillance tapes should be checked.

Why can’t they use bloodhounds to try to track him? If he’s in the airport, they should be able to find him.

If they are shipping live cargo, they might want to consider adding a lock on the crate (though I have mixed feelings about that) and a tracking device. An animal can starve if abandoned in its carrier.

AA should also be quietly offering its employees some way of returning the pet with complete amnesty.

I just re-read the article. I agree with AA that it’s likely the cat is still hiding in the same area where he went missing (unless stolen), probably somewhere that they never would imagine, like inside a tiny hole in the wall or behind a pipe.

I work in the animal care industry and over the last 15 years or so I’ve occasionally had to find missing dogs and cats. One dog that had panicked and run away when leaving a former workplace, I found over a mile away, by guessing which directions he would take at each crossing. Two or three cats who have panicked have been found secreted under staircases, in ceiling tiles after scaling the walls, and inside of a wall hiding behind a pipe, having gotten in there through an opening that seemed only inches wide.

My point is, I hope that AA has people who actually know how cats think and behave, looking for this cat (as well as bloodhounds). Their baggage handlers, being used to treating cats like cargo, are probably the least likely individuals to successfully think like this cat.

Alright. Enough of this garbage, I cannot take it any longer. Some chick who just HAS to travel with her cat puts in a cage, confining it for a long and scary trip. Someone should call PETA on her and pour blood all over her.

Ahhhhh, forget it. Jack was just on the menu at a local Vietnamese restaurant.

When I first read the article I was thinking it was the airline’s fault. Even though I hate cats and could care less. Now after reading further it shocked me that the cat got out. I was thinking the kennel was lost but if the cat get’s lose then it’s not the airline’s responsibility to chase down a lousy animal that’s going to hide and pee everywhere. Maybe they can just follow the disgusting pee smell and find the damn thing!!

Yes I agree locks on kennels and not some cheap $20 petco kennel.Invest in proper kennel.All this time wasted .It is a cat people not a child that is lost. When he gets hungry he will show himself unless he got caught in a machine and is deceased.

Mama cat do not blame cage for owner to lazy to kep cat with her.People always looking to blame someone else.The airline should give her the $20 for lost cat and we can all move on with our lives.Trust me in the baggage handling area that cat probably got grinded up already

its ridiculous they lost jack. they lost my two cats it took an hour to find them thank god they were found alive and safe. They are family to many of us and I hope this family gets jack back. they shouls be more careful what a shame. cats will hide try tuna its smelly set a trap call the humane society to help or the spca god speed jack may you be reunited with your loved ones and go home safely with the family that loves you.

I used to work for American Airlines and I found them to be the most careless and unconcerned company about their passengers and employees of any airline. They have obviously not changed. The poor attitude comes directly from the top and filters all the way down to the lowest positions in the company. They were notorious for mishandling luggage, Why would they care for an animal when they don’t care for their passengers?

I worked for them too and found it to be great place to work and great people .ANd always concerned about ther people and passengers.You probably got fired so you have a grudge grow up.Why blame a airline when you have a bad pet owner.

The level of vitriol on this thread is a measure of why this country is the way it is. We should not be shocked at our leaders if we can’t discuss this without name-calling, sarcastic or juvenile remarks designed to provoke others, or harsh judgements of others.

It looks like American failed in its duties here, but is trying to find the cat. I feel very sorry for Ms. Pascoe. I love cats.

I also noted, as I often do in these online threads, quite a bit of poor grammar and some glaring spelling errors. Very sad.

It appears our leaders these days are a reflection in a mirror telling a very sad tale.

Wow, I see you’re a pet lover … geez, remind me not to leave my kids with you. “Sorry, but be realistic, I cannot be responsible for EVERYTHING your child does.” Here’s the down and dirty: they were paid to make sure a CAT got where it was supposed to get … the CAT is not luggage and so there is even more of a burden to make sure it is kept safe. If they cannot do this, then they should not offer the service nor should they charge. And you should never babysit.

But the cat was “checked” and treated as luggage…so therefore the cat sould be treated as luggage. If the cat was that important then it should not have been checked. I once checked a $4,600 suitcase and when i picked it up once i arrived it was scratched and pretty much destroyed, so i now know how they treat anything that is checked and in the belly of the plane.

that’s pretty stupid. There is one fee only, and the airlines decide if kitty can stay with you or not. There is no way to upgrade kitty’s seat. Some allow pets on board while some make them stay in luggage.

airlines allow pets in cabin, i’ve flown with both of my cats in cabin, several times, i bought a ticket for my dad to fly WITH my cat because i refuse to check my pet under the plane! you make arrangements way in advance. Nobody makes them “stay” in luggage……it’s your choice.

Lets get real people!!! If you do not consider your pet (baggage or cargo) then DO NOT CHECK THEM!!!!! AA allows for a passenger to bring 2 dogs OR 2 cats per kennel per ticket holder along with them in the cabin. I feel for any owner who loses a pet, I know I would be heart broken if I lost my Beagle, but lets lay off AA. My pet would not be in the cargo hold it would be under my seat with me in the cabin. Its an unfortunate event but AA has gone above and beyond to help locate Jack. For anyone to lazy to go and actually look at AA Pet Policy, do not use money as an excuse its cheaper to carry on a pet than check one.

That’s great Davis,
But if I am relocating to another part of the country with my 75 pound dog I don’t think the crate would fit in the overhead bin or under the seat.
Airlines only let SMALL pets in the cabin so if they force you to put them in the cargo hold they should be fully responsible to get your pet to your destination safe and on time.
Shame on you AA and shame on the TSA at JFK !!!!

OK-if you havea 75 lb dog then maybe you could drive to your new home. There are always options. People are calling pets part of the family,but I can’t cover them under my company medical plan. I don’t have the option to check my children as cargo because they are human beings! There really is a difference. I love pets and have had many over my 50 years and right now we have one cat. But I won’t be getting her any cancer treatment when it is time for her to go. I know, I’m just cruel and inhumane. I think it many cases we have lost touch with our priorities.

How about a little perspective, guys? They didn’t lose a child, Grandma, or a biomed cooler. They lost a cat. In any case, AA has gone well above and beyond in their attempt to retrieve the cat, as any reasonable person can see by the bullet points in the above article. If the cat is not located, the owner is entitled to refund of any associated carriage fees and no more. Like it or not, pets are considered cargo and will be treated as such by the airline and the law.

On a side note, I find it remarkable that the author apparently went no farther than his or her smartphone in doing the research for this article. The only sources cited are Facebook, Twitter, and an interview with the owner that may or may have not been conducted by said author. The airline was apparently not contacted for comment, inexcusable given that they operate a major hub in this station’s back yard.

lol… I’ve got two. Yes, I love them. And yes, I’d be upset if anything happened to them. However, I hardly consider them family. If you’ve got kids, then you know what I mean.

Like I said in my original post, lets put things in perspective. The airline is doing all that can reasonably expected of them and more. Yes, they’re at fault for letting the cat loose in the first place. But what would you consider reasonable compensation? Personally, I’d expect to be reimbursed as though they’d lost any bag… which these days can be a princely sum.

As another side note, the level of vitriol and hyperbole on this board is truly astounding- the sort that I’d expect to see reserved for ESPN.com. Stay classy, guys.

Dan, I never said that the airline was blame-free. However, I’m rather impressed with the steps they’re taking to attempt to rectify their mistake. Try getting a bag lost and see if you get that level of service from any carrier, let alone a major.

I’m not usually one to shoot the messenger and I don’t automatically see bias everytime I disagree with a journalist’s point of view. However, you’re darned right I’m going to call out lazy journalism when I see it. How difficult is it to contact an AA spokesperson for comment? Or perhaps speak with the supervisor at the lost baggage counter?

I really don’t ask much from reporters. Give me facts, give me context, and give me the impression that you at least used that phone to talk to somebody rather than tap around twitter feeds like a parakeet with ADHD.

Pets ARE NOT FAMILY. You don’t OWN family. And yes it is mainly the owners fault. It’s just another piece of baggage to the airline employees. No more no less. Some simple precautions like putting a safety lock on the kennel would be all it takes to ensure that no one accidently opens the cage. It’s not rocket science.

Obviously, you’ve never had a cat in your family. They own you, you don’t own them. And btw, no cat lover would have it any other way. Pets are family. American Airlines ought get their act together and find Jack; it’s 100% American’s responsibility. The airline lost Jack – someone opened the cat’s carrier, he didn’t do it himself. Then, institute iron clad regulations on handling of animal travelers. Lose one, lose your job.

AA is totally irresponsible in their practices of flying animals as cargo. They should consider allowing animals to fly in the cabins with their owners as a flight option. I think there are plenty of pet owners willing to pay for flights that would allow them to fly with their pets in the cabin vs cargo.( PET/PASSENGER ONLY FLIGHTS?)..its cruel to fly pets in cargo as luggage. SHAME ON AMERICAN AIRLINES ..this story of JACK the cat is only one of many that occur all to often with American Airlines and lost pets. They are handled poorly by this carrier and their people.
They cover it up …

Pets can fly in the Cabin. There is a limit on how many can be in the cabin and that isn’t airline rules. Considering how ill behaved most owners let their pets be it is entirely understandable. The cat’s owner is the one who decided to fly HIS cat as cargo. Don’t blame the airline for his decision.

Pets are aloud as carry-on on AA flights… carryon pet is $150 and checked pet is $125— it is an option to carry on or check the pet–there are cats and dogs that fly on planes everyday— it is the owners option weather they want to deal with having to carry their pet threw airports or have their pet checked to final destination….. And where you say that they are handle poorly by their people… you don’t know what all the people do with pets and so really you can’t go saying that all employees handle pets poorly just because of one incident.—Infact if the weather is to hot.cold pets CANNOT fly as cargo because of the risk of their health in hot cargo pits… so that right there is a thought into animal’s safety—– This was the owner’s decision to fly the pet as cargo and not carry it on NOT THE AIRLINES its IS an option to keep them by your side all the time.

Things like this are going to happen as long as airlines treat pets as baggage. They are not baggage. I would gladly pay for a seat to transport my dog–in a crate–but that is not allowed (she weighs 35 lbs and is too big to fit under a seat). I know some folks are allergic to pets or for some other reason wouldn’t want to be on a plane with live animals in the cabin. So make every 1 in 5 flights an animal-eligible flight and those who are averse can just not take that flight. I have friends who have gotten their dogs qualified as therapy dogs just so they can ride in an airline cabin. Ridiculous! And, yes, I’d rather be on a plane with a bunch of dogs and cats than a with a bunch of screaming babies!!!

I think that everyone should get a grip and back off of American Airlines for supposedly losing a cat. Considering the east coast was just hammered by one of the worst storms in decades, and aircraft had to be moved and flights canceled, I think that passengers and aircraft safety come first. No one knows yet what actually happened, but lets get the darts out and blame the carrier. Considering airlines primary objective is to carry PASSENGERS FROM POINT A to B, and not worry about livestock, animals and pets, it is rediculous that everyone is blaming the airline already. Nothing re-opened until Tuesday, but I guess the owner expected life and limb to be risked in 80 mph winds, to have Barnaby Jones and team hunt for the cat….Insane……

If they don’t want to worry about “animals and pets” then the airline should stop charging an arm and a leg to transport them from point A to B. If a company charges for a service they are responsible for anything that happens while providing said service. The owner had every right to expect the airline to go above and beyond in the efforts to find her pet considering the fact the cat was lost on Thursday not during the height of the hurricane which happened on Saturday/Sunday. You obiviously are not a pet owner or you would not have such a caviliar attitude about the loss of a loved one.

American Airlines should not have lost the cat in the first place. Cats don’t just “get out” of their carriers, someone had to let him out. I read in one of the posts that an American Airlines employee was in the process of fastening the doors of the carriers with some sort of tie when Ms. Pascoe left them. So Mr. Heartless Insensitive Guy, you may not care anything about beloved pets who are part of the family, but others do and we feel that American Airlines has botched things from start to finish, storm or no storm.

first of all the cat was secured in a crate so someone had to open it, second it happened before the hurricane and third they were paid to do a job that they obviously didnt do and it is a live animal that could get hurt or killed because of their negligance , who else would be blamed?

Hey “RealWorldGuy,” it doesn’t matter that the airlines MAIN OBJECTIVE is to transport passengers. If the airline chooses to offer this service of carrying live animals, then the airline has accepted the burden of following through. If this woman had tried to sneak Jack onto the flight and he got lost, that’s definitely not the airline’s fault. But AA accepted responsibility and then failed to follow through.

I happen to believe that animal lives are not less valuable than human lives. I certainly value the lives of my beloved pets over your heartless life. Besides, FEMA has nothing to do with this whatsoever. This is about an airline employee who let or took a cat out of a carrier and an airline that was too busy to fix their mistake and very insensitive to the distraught passenger who had paid for safe passage for her two cats, members of her family.

It’s nice that you believe that, but I happen to believe that a human life is always more valuable than that of a cat, pet, dog, armadillo, or what have you. Even if I do cherish my rabbit over that of the random stranger on the street. I understand it’s a companion and very sad to lose but at a point enough is enough and the person should be compensated for the value of the pet and teh airline should be allowed to move on and not endure constant harrasment from outside parties and spend more money to give them another reason to jack up airline fees. And yes, I said value because a cat is a pet which can be legally purchased and is viewed as property under the law. Karen Pascoe is entitled to no more sympathy or compensation than someone who loses a cherished family heirloom because they decided to check it with luggage.

Jack is not the fist pet to go missing through poor and careless baggage handlers. The social media community, I believe, can make a difference and possibly prevent more of these catastrophic acts of negligence.

Just Horrific- DRIVE or take Cat in Soft carrier OON PLane On your LAP!! I heard Of this Happening Alot- Lost a SHOWDOG few Yrs ago!! Just devastating as Cats owner I would Be so afraid For my Poor Scared Kitty and The Other cat His BUDDY must be all Messed UP!!! F- AA rot in hell

So the cat was inside a carrier secured with a zip tie. Now both cat and carrier are missing. AA presumes the cat escaped. How? How does a cat escape from a locked carrier? Aren’t there cameras watching what their employees do? Personally, I think every baggage handler is suspect and that Jack might have been kidnapped, for whatever reason. One thing is certain – I will NEVER fly American Airlines.

Where did you see the carrier was missing? I could only read that the kennel was still there, with food and water placed inside. Sounds like AA would be quite thankful to not have an idiot like you flying it. You’d probably misread the signs and get lost between the gate door and the plane on the jet ramp.

If you read the emails from AA, they have been snarky and unhelpful. And you can read lots of AA animal transport horror stories on that page too , thstcome with recommendations to go with other, pet friendly airlines. AA is notoriously bad with pet transport. It is important to note that the catwas in a petcarrier that the luggage agent closed with a zip tie, and that the carry case was never located either. Thecat could not have escaped without the zip tie being cut.